Dum de dum de dum… I'm back! With the 14th chapter! w00t! I think this is a short chapter, but w/e… I don't own CL, Once Upon a Marigold, or High School Musical… yeah, yeah, don't rub it in. Okay, here we go! –old movie screen starts the countdown—

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT'S SHOWTIME!

Yumi cautiously peered through a hole in the curtains. Tonight was the night; the night of the performance. The month had gone by fast, with her and Ulrich flirting a little bit every so often… okay, every time their eyes met. For example, he'd hold up two fingers in the peace sign and she'd reply with an "L" for loser. His eyes would get all big and he'd start to pout, making her laugh. She sighed, remembering these little signs of happiness. The butterflies in her stomach had risen just in time for dress rehearsal to begin and hadn't left her since. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her neck and jumped as it slid down to the middle of her back and Ulrich's warm breath heated her skin.

"Nervous?" he whispered. She nodded.

"Very… very, very, very."

He laughed, "Don't be. I'm not."

"You've done this loads of times before though!"

"So?"

"Sooooo, you have more experience and know what to expect." She felt his shoulders move up and down before he turned her around and held her at arms length.

"You'll be great Yumi. I have faith in you."

"Save the drama for the performance, Christian."

"I still have plenty left in my system, Marigold."

They grinned silently at each other before hurrying over to where the director had called them to deliver a pep talk. Yumi barely paid any attention, because a certain someone had slipped their hand into hers. She was glad that the makeup artist they'd hired had been so intent on caking her face with a tanned skin tone, because otherwise, her cheeks would have looked like the sides of a fire truck. When the director was done speaking, they all got in position for the opening scene. But before she crossed the stage to wait in the wings, Ulrich gave her hand a comforting squeeze.

-:------------------------------:-

"You may now kiss the bride."

The last line was uttered by a furious-looking William and the final scene ended as Ulrich and Yumi, while playing their roles as Christian and Marigold, and all the other characters onstage froze and the lights cut off, leaving the final image of Ulrich and Yumi close to kissing burned in the minds of the audience. The two separated under the cover of darkness before they could really kiss and felt their way to the back wall where everyone else was bustling to get to as well. When the lights came on again, a long line of characters stepped forward, bowed, and exited the stage to make way for the second row, then the third, and finally, Ulrich and Yumi came up together and met the thunderous applause of the student body, faculty, staff, and numerous parents. They bowed and straightened up, smiles growing on their faces. Ulrich's beam suddenly started slipping as he caught sight of someone in the first row just before the curtains closed.

Back in the dressing room, Yumi hummed to herself as she removed the heavy makeup before applying eyeliner and mascara again, just for effect. She then dressed in more casual clothes—a blood red, sleeveless hoodie, black long-sleeved sweater and black cargo pants. She styled her hair differently now, with layering bangs falling over her left eye and her hair flaring out a little. The effect was very dramatic, making her right eye (the only one visible) look dominant and controlling. She pulled on a pair of Converse and walked out the door. The stage was now cleared of all props and looked much bigger without them. People were moving toward the exit, anxious to start the party that the principal had set up for all in attendance and on cast. She pushed her hands in the pocket of her jacket and twirled, staring up at the lights. All of a sudden, she bumped into someone coming from upstage right where the men's dressing room was.

"Well aren't we the dancer today?" Ulrich's voice drifted toward her. She laughed and her eyes flicked behind him where Odd was waiting.

"I guess you two are going to the party. Well I won't keep you," she smiled, backing up and pulling her hands from her pockets to remove herself from Ulrich's chest. He turned around once she was off and signaled Odd to go ahead, that he would catch up. Odd smirked, winked at them, and walked away whistling with his hands in his pockets. Ulrich turned back to Yumi, who was blushing like mad.

"Hey," he said breathlessly.

"You didn't have to make him leave, you know." She fingered a zipper on one of the pockets on her pants. He shrugged.

"Whatever. Good job tonight. You did great!"

"Thanks, you were better though."

"No I wasn't."

"Say that with a straight face."

"Okay, maybe I was," he grinned.

She nodded and turned away, "Exactly. See you at the party!"

"Hold it!" he grabbed her elbow and hauled her back, "Why are you so anxious to get away?"

Because we almost kissed and I need time to collect my thoughts and put that in my memory as the closest thing I'll ever get to a relationship with you, her mind answered automatically, making her face go red again, even though she knew that he couldn't read minds. "Shut up," she told herself.

"Huh?"

"Oh, sorry. I was just talking to myself."

"Do you do that often?"

"I guess so."

"Well then 'I guess' I'll just have to get used to it."

"What? Why?"

"Yumi…" he put a hand on her cheek and stroked her jaw line. Her face couldn't have gotten any darker, she figured. "I have a question for you…"

"And that would be…?" she asked, trying to fight the urge to press up against him, shout in his ear that she loved him, and live happily ever after in a world of bliss. "Like that's ever going to happen…"

"Talking to yourself again?"

"Huh? Oh… yeah."

"Okay, now for my question."

"Shoot."

"Was that a 'go ahead' or a 'aw man, it looks like he's going to speak again, now there's no hope of getting away' kind of shoot?"

"Er, a 'go ahead' I guess."

"You guess?"

"Just get on with it already."

"All right." He put his hands on her cheeks and put the tips of his fingers on the back of her neck, "But promise you'll give me a definite answer and not leave me hanging."

She laughed, "Just ask me already."

"Yumi…" he pulled her forward the slightest bit, "Can I kiss you?"

The smile slipped off her face, leaving a shocked expression behind.

"Wh-what?"

"Can I kiss you?"

A horrible place to leave off, but I had to. Sorry! Just like in Confusing Love With Lust, there will be only one more chapter for this story. Yeah, it's going to end. But I'm going to be starting a new story once these two are finished… actually after Royal Pain is finished too… but that's beside the point. I'll tell you more about it in the last chapters, so don't forget to read them (I say them for both LIHV and CLWL)! Thanks to all my readers, reviewers, favers, alerters, everyone who at least visited and read this story and CLWL! Your support's helped me through bad points in my life during all my time here on FanFic. I'm not quitting, but I'm cutting down my time so I can focus on my studies, because my parents have been threatening to block FanFic. on my computer because my grades (though none of them Cs, their all higher) are sorta reflecting how much time I don't spend doing my work. I also have a big project that I can't afford to fail, and I'll be focusing on that until December probably. Thanks again for all the help! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST! Please review! #,# —starry eyes— (cuz I can't believe it's almost the end… —sob—)

-Mi ChIbO-

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